In-State Rivals Set to Meet in ACC Women's Tennis Championship Semifinals

April 17, 2009

CARY, N.C. - Sixth-seed turned North Carolina back third-seeded Clemson by a 4-2 score late Friday afternoon to conclude quarterfinal play in the Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Tennis Championship quarterfinals.

Fifth-seeded Florida State also edged fourth-seeded Georgia Tech 4-3 in an air-tight battle. Friday' other quarterfinal action saw top-seeded Miami blank No. 9 second-seeded Wake Forest 4-0 and Duke defeat seventh-seeded Virginia by the same score. Fifth-seeded Florida State edged fourth-seeded Georgia Tech 4-3 in an air-tight battle.

The outcomes set up a pair of in-state rivalry matches in Saturday's semifinals. It starts with a 10 a.m. battle between Miami (22-3) and Florida State (16-6), followed by Duke (21-3) against North Carolina (18-9) at 1 p.m.

Straight-set wins by Laura Vallverdu at No. 2 singles, Michaela Kissell at No. 4 and Gabriela Mejia at No. 4 keyed Miami's shutout win over Wake Forest. The nationally sixth-ranked Hurricanes also clinched the doubles point behind All-ACC players Kissell and Valverdu at No. 1 and Julia Cohen and Biana Eichkorn at No. 2. Miami will carry an 11-match winning streak into Saturday's semifinal round against Florida State.

Most anticipated a nail-biter when Georgia Tech and Florida State squared off in Friday's noon quarterfinal match, and the battle between nationally-ranked teams lived up to its billing.

The 17th-ranked Seminoles finally secured their 4-3 at when Federica Suess outlasted the Yellow Jackets' Sasha Krupina in three sets, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 at No. 5 singles. Suess' victory clinched the Seminoles' ninth straight win and ended a match that lasted for three hours and 38 minutes.

Katie Rybakova (No. 1), Lauren Macfarlane (No. 3) and Jessica Sucupira (No 6) also won in singles for FSU. The seventh-ranked Yellow Jackets (16-7) captured the doubles point and got singles wins from freshman Irina Falconi at No. 2 and senior Christy Striplin at No. 4.

Duke, the No. 3 team in this week's ITA national rankings, blanked Virginia behind a flurry of straight set wins. After sweeping the doubles matches with wins by the teams of Amanda Granson-Melssia Mang, Mallory Cecil-Jessi Robison and Ella Nze-Reka Zsilinszka, the Blue Devils secured their 10th straight with singles victories by Nze at No. 2, Mang at No. 5 and Robison at No. 6.

North Carolina set the tone for its win over Clemson by winning the doubles points behind the No. 1 team of Sanaz Marand-Sophie Grabinski and Katrina Tsang-Austin Smith at No. 2.

Marand then defeated ACC Player of the Year Ani Mijacika 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 1 singles match, and Tsang and Smith followed suit with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 to clinch the match for the 21st-ranked Tar Heels.

Please see the attached files for complete scoring from Friday's quarterfinal matches and an updated bracket. Follow all the action of the 2009 ACC Women's Tennis Championship at:

http://www.theacc.com/championships/09-tennis-championship.html

Find the Complete Results from today's matches:

http://www.theacc.com/championships/09-tennis-women-agates.html#secondround